


Kiss It Better

by BleedMeAMelody



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood, Guns, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-20 23:27:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedMeAMelody/pseuds/BleedMeAMelody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall knew what was going to happen before anybody even had a chance to react. Before the shock set in, before his mouth remembered how to form words, before his lungs realized that he needed to breathe, he knew. He could feel it in his bones, in the pounding of his heart, as if it were already etched in stone. The future played out in his mind like a sick movie. This little voice in the back of his mind whispered as he stared down the barrel of the gun.</p><p>Somebody was going to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Kiss It Better by He Is We

       Niall knew what was going to happen before anybody even had a chance to react. Before the shock set in, before his mouth remembered how to form words, before his lungs realized that he needed to breathe, he knew. He could feel it in his bones, in the pounding of his heart, as if it were already etched in stone. The future played out in his mind like a sick movie. This little voice in the back of his mind whispered as he stared down the barrel of the gun.

 _Somebody was going to die_.

       Louis had moved to stand protectively in front of Harry. He was speaking calmly, pleading for the man to put the gun down. Niall watched his lips move, but he only heard the roaring echoes of the voice that continued to fill his head, consuming everything until only one sentence remained.

_Somebody was going to die._

       Five words ricocheted around Niall's mind, their jagged edges leaving trails of searing pain in their wake. Niall wanted to forget them. He wanted to bury them deep in the middle of the ocean, or abandon them atop the highest mountain in the world, where no one would have to encounter them ever again. He wanted to deny their very existence. He willed them to disappear, to stop tormenting his mind. But the words were loud. They demanded attention. They screamed to be heard.

 _Somebody was going to die_.

       The man was shouting now, spit flying as the veins in his forehead bulged, motioning vaguely at them with the offending object in his hand, but he sounded far away, like he was underwater. When Louis refused, Niall could see the anger building behind the man’s eyes, the resolve, and he could see what was going to happen. He followed the direction the bullet was pointed, traced it straight to Louis's chest.

 _Somebody was going to die_.

       No. Not Louis. Louis was so good for Harry, and out of everyone in the entire world, Harry deserved to be happy. Harry, whose heart had become so broken and bent out of shape it had almost lost the will to keep beating, was looking forward to living once again, thanks to Louis. Depression had plagued him for so long, shrouding the world in black and gray, but lights were just beginning to shine. His dazzling smile and loud laugh were finally making a reappearance after being locked away for so long, and the smallest movement of this stranger’s finger was going to take it all away. He was going to kill Louis, but Niall couldn’t let that happen.

       Before he even fully registered what he was doing, Niall surged forward and pushed Louis out of harm’s way, and, by extension, placed himself in it. Louis stumbled into Harry, who steadied him when a loud noise filled the alley. Louis spun around once he regained his balance, eyes wide and panicked, blood pounding in his ears, as the echoing gunshot robbed all thoughts from their minds. The pair looked on in mute horror to see Niall frozen in place, his face drained of color.

       Time stood still in that moment. The alley fell into silence, save for the deafening resonance of shattering dreams and lives being torn apart. It stretched around them, all-encompassing and suffocating, turning their arms into rubber and their feet into lead. Nobody dared to move. Nobody dared to speak.

       The stillness was abruptly broken by a whispered “oh shit,” followed by the frantic pounding of footsteps of a man attempting to escape the overpowering pain he had caused. Run as he might, though, the damage was irreversible. Run as he might, he could not turn back time. The bullet could not be reversed.

 _Somebody was going to die_.

       The man’s departure brought the weight of the world crashing back down. Harry, who had latched onto Louis when the shot rang out, tentatively spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “Niall?” Niall opened his mouth to respond, but the silence and the whispers had robbed him of his words. His eyes met Harry's as his body lurched forward, unable to support itself any longer as the shock set in. Louis reached forward and grabbed him before he hit the ground and gently lowered him so that he was lying down. When Louis pulled his hands away, they were painted an angry red by Niall's blood. He looked down to see it seeping through the front of his shirt, spilling everywhere, staining everything. Louis quickly backed away and pulled out his cell phone, intent on calling an ambulance.

       Harry knelt down and watched the life slowly drain from his best friend as the blood began pooling underneath his paling body, tainting Harry's fingers as he reached desperately for Niall's hand. He clung desperately, as if that connection alone could prevent death’s cold hands from seizing the boy. Tears splattered on the pavement, mixing with the thick red, but doing nothing to alleviate the agony that had engulfed the alleyway. Niall looked up at him with blue eyes that were quickly losing their shine and spoke in a raspy voice with lips that were tainted red.

       “Don’t be sad Haz.”

       Like a floodgate, those words filled Harry's mind with too many thoughts, too many questions, too many pleas for a miracle, swirling in his mind and making it hard for him to breathe. As he saw the look of sheer terror overtake his best friends face, Niall gave a small smile. He opened his mouth to reply, to comfort, to make it right, only to cough up more blood, the sticky red liquid splattering on Harry's shirt. As Niall's breathing became more and more labored, Harry became frantic.

       “You can’t leave. You just can’t. I can’t do this without you. You have to stay.”

       Niall faintly shook his head. _I can’t_. His body was exhausted, his limbs growing heavier by the minute. Darkness began eating at the edge of his vision as the whispering voice once again filled his head.

       “Tell Liam that I love him.”

 _Somebody is going to die_.


	2. Part 2

When Liam answered the phone he was expecting the sound of Louis’ voice to fill him in on the day’s trivial events, not the sound of his world crashing down around him. His brain only picked out certain words.

“Niall… mugged… shot… blood… everywhere… critical… hospital… goodbye… now…”

                Before he even fully registered what was happening, he had dropped the phone, grabbed his keys, and was running to his car. He made his way to the hospital in silence, his car racing almost as fast as his thoughts.

                Wherever Niall was, it was dark, but not the crushing kind that stole your breath and erased your thoughts. It was more of a warm, soothing darkness, and he never wanted to leave. The one interruption in the black void was a shining light in the distance. Niall was curious, but the light hurt his eyes and he was much too content relaxing in the safety of the darkness.

                The voice had returned, except this time it was soft and its words were soothing. It whispered for him to let go of everything and just relax. At first, Niall had ignored the voice and fought to hang on, but he was quickly growing tired and he couldn’t quite remember why he was fighting so hard. Was there something waiting for him? Something important? He couldn’t remember, and he began to not care. It became so much more appealing to do as the voice suggested and just let everything go.

                Niall’s shoulder hurt. His body ached. With every breath he took, it felt as if his body was being set on fire. It was a pain he hadn’t realized was there until it was gone. With the darkness came a relief to his pain. As he fell deeper into void, he felt everything else fade away.

_Just let go. Just let it all go and sleep. Sleep the pain away._

                Niall couldn’t fight it anymore. He was just too tired and everything hurt too much. He felt his eyes start to close as he began to slip farther into the darkness, the single ray of light becoming dimmer and dimmer. Somewhere, far away, he heard an annoying beeping turn into a high-pitched drone. He distantly heard people shouting and rushing around. It was all quite annoying. He just wanted it all to stop so he could sleep in peace.

But then, he heard it. The voice. Although it sounded clearer than the other voices, he couldn’t make out any distinct words. The voice was pleading, and it hurt Niall to hear it so sad. Somewhere deep inside of him he knew that he should know who that voice belonged to, but he just couldn’t place it. That voice shouldn’t be sad. It shouldn’t sound so desperate and broken. It shouldn’t. But it did. And something told Niall that it was all his fault, and he just couldn’t bear that.  

Furiously, he began clawing his way out of the darkness and back toward the light. The whispers got louder; urging him to forget it and go back to sleep, but Niall ignored them. He was beginning to realize that whispering voices in his head were never a good thing. He didn’t know how long he struggled to escape the darkness. Minutes. Days. Weeks. It didn’t matter. No matter how hard he worked he never seemed to get any closer to the light. But he didn’t give up. He knew he was getting closer because the pain was slowly returning to his body. Every breath burned in his lungs until it was almost too much to bear.

Suddenly, instead of the light being too far away, it was too close. It was blinding and searing and all Niall wanted to do was return to the comfort of the darkness. Everything was too loud. Two people nearby were arguing. The voices were familiar, but Niall was too tired to think about it. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep. It was so bright here. He kept his eyes closed. Why had he left the darkness again? Oh right, the voice. The real one. He had to apologize for causing it so much pain.

The arguing couple was still going at it. Their voices grated in Niall’s ears and added to the sharp pain in his head. He just wanted everyone to shut up so he could think straight.

“Would you two just shut up already?!”

                That did the trick. For a few precious moments silence filled the room, save for the constant beeping of the machines nearby. Niall was grateful. Now, where was he? That’s right. The voice. It was import-

“Niall?”

It was barely above a whisper, but nonetheless it tore Niall from his concentration.

“Hm?”

Now he was getting agitated. Why couldn’t they just shut up? Didn’t they understand that how important it was that he remembered? Obviously not. Someone left the room, the pounding of their feet ringing in Niall’s ears, but they quickly returned  with what sounded like a herd of people. These new people poked and prodded. They shined light in his eyes, making him cringe and shrink away. Their hands were cold and Niall just wanted them to leave. One of them prodded his shoulder and he hissed in pain. It was then that he realized just how much he hurt. Everywhere. Everything. It hurt.

The people left. Niall was tired. His body ached. His brain hurt. He just wanted to sleep. This was all too much. He wanted to return to the comforting arms of the darkness.

The sound of more footsteps reached Niall’s ears. This newcomer remained quiet, however, as the other two left. Niall heard shuffling and then someone was holding his hand. It was painfully familiar. He knew this person.

“Niall? Please love, open your eyes.”

                The voice. Suddenly, everything fit together. Everything made sense. He remembered. How could he have forgotten? The voice was his world, his everything. The words bubbled inside of him, fighting to escape. His eyes flew open as a single word tumbled through lips.

“Liam.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://thesoundofyou-andme.tumblr.com)!


End file.
